1 inch per foot

[curtisj76]

So I was golfing with a new buddy the other day and I was missing some short easy putts. He thought I took the club back to far. He said he read in a book where you should swing the club back 1 inch per foot of distance (at least for short putts). I think he said it was in something like "Fundamentals of Golf", not sure. Anyone else do this?

PS He likes to keep his putter low to the ground while mine swings up a lot more. If it matters, he's a pretty good putter and I'm average.

 

[puttmad]

curtis,
One inch per foot can only be relevant if your timing is EXACTLY the same as the person that first made the claim... your friend has obviously found something that fits his tempo...
E.g if you have a faster forward swing than they do, then the ball will go much further than theirs, and you are going to hit thro the break or lip out a lot...it is a distance travelled/time thing....

You might like to try it on a practice green sometime (the different "inches...), but bear in mind it will vary on a daily basis, even on the same course, and on a strange course will mainly be a guess....and initially your timing is going to be all over tha place, which will affect the outcome, which will affect your approach to the next putt, which will affect.......

 

[curtisj76]

Yeah, I started trying it on the course but was thinking too much. I've been practicing at home (crappy little putting green) and will try it on the course hopefully tomorrow.

 

[bendet3]

One thing that has helped me tremendously with judging length of putts (especially when I can't play as much as I like to) and corresponding length of swing, was to develop a "reference" putter swing on the practice green. Usually this entails taking my normal stance on a flat area of the putting green and then, at my normal swing pace, I swing the putter back and through so that the swing arc is as long as the distance between the insides of my feet in my stance and then I see how far the ball has rolled. If it rolls 5 feet than I can judge the putts that I am faced with on the course accordingly. Obviously there are a lot of variables that can change from putt to putt, but I find that when I don't play very often, my "feel" on the putting green is not great and this has helped.

 

[dashfan87]

One thing that has helped me tremendously with judging length of putts (especially when I can't play as much as I like to) and corresponding length of swing, was to develop a "reference" putter swing on the practice green. Usually this entails taking my normal stance on a flat area of the putting green and then, at my normal swing pace, I swing the putter back and through so that the swing arc is as long as the distance between the insides of my feet in my stance and then I see how far the ball has rolled. If it rolls 5 feet than I can judge the putts that I am faced with on the course accordingly. Obviously there are a lot of variables that can change from putt to putt, but I find that when I don't play very often, my "feel" on the putting green is not great and this has helped.

I like that idea, I may try it, because I have a hard time being able to get my distance down on a strange course or, if i havent played in a while.

 

[birdie_man]

Usually I just let my brain figure it out. That is a pretty good idea though bendet.

Out of curiosity how many people do it like this?

How do you do it Brian?

 

[pm4610]

There's someone that explains and has a method similar to bendet3's method. I won't post here because this is Brian's turf. However, if you PM me, I'll be happy to send you the link. I've experimented with it just a little (so far) and it has helped and so has The Sheriff

 

[thefuture37]

There's someone that explains and has a method similar to bendet3's method. I won't post here because this is Brian's turf. However, if you PM me, I'll be happy to send you the link. I've experimented with it just a little (so far) and it has helped and so has The Sheriff

Do that guy a favor and just explain the concept to him without telling him who the other instructor is. That instructor is sooooooooooo technical and over analytical that it will make people's brains fry.

 

[pm4610]

Do that guy a favor and just explain the concept to him without telling him who the other instructor is. That instructor is sooooooooooo technical and over analytical that it will make people's brains fry.

LOL!!

 

[puttmad]

Curtis,
Do yourself a favour, before you start getting too involved here..

On your practice facility at home, set yourself up with a six foot putt....

Create a tempo for yourself, e.g count "one-and two," one being the backswing and two being impact...don't make it too slow, those long languid strokes look nice, but are not the most efficient...

Now take your timing rhythm and apply a piece of music to it, that fits the rhythm, anything will do, as long as you stick with it...
Now use that timimg to adjust your back and thro stroke to hit the ball exactly 6 feet on your practice mat....if the ball goes too far, slow down your backswing and vice-versa for if it is not far enough...
You will thgen find the optimum back and thro stroke THAT FITS YOUR RHYTHM for the 6 foot putt...
Then find out how far the ball goes when you adjust the backswing progressively, BUT within the confines of the timimg..
Spend a few hours over a few days ingraining the timing and rythm...it doesn't work instantly...

Now when you get to a practice green, before you play a round, reproduce that same putt as if you were home...that will give you a fixed starting point to compare with, whatever the speed of the greens on the course you are playing. You may find the ball goes 10 feet on the real green, so now you have a direct correlation of gren speed compared to your home putt....Remember tho, to do say three putts in one direction and then three putts back to where you started, and then take the average for both directions combined (this makes an allowance for any slope on the green)..

the rest can be common sense if you sit down (or work it out on your practice mat) and do some logical thinking....

There's more, but I won't go into it here.....

 

[curtisj76]

Thanks puttmad, so you have pretty good results with this method?

 

[rogerdodger]

An inch per foot?, what about green speed, contour, moisture, wind, and the amount of coffee you had? I consider myself a good putter, sometimes I take it back far, with a short followthrough, sometimes the opposite depending on the putt. I wish I could be as non-analytical on my full-swing. Putting truly is an art, I appreciate nasa scientists trying to make significant science out of it, but I don't want to think about that stuff when I have a five footer for twenty bucks.

 

[curtisj76]

An inch per foot?, what about green speed, contour, moisture, wind, and the amount of coffee you had? I consider myself a good putter, sometimes I take it back far, with a short followthrough, sometimes the opposite depending on the putt. I wish I could be as non-analytical on my full-swing. Putting truly is an art, I appreciate nasa scientists trying to make significant science out of it, but I don't want to think about that stuff when I have a five footer for twenty bucks.

Of course he changes it when needed. It's just a rule of thumb for him. Like I said, he's a great putter. Works for him. Knocks in more 8 footers than I've ever seen (in person).

 

[puttmad]

...

Thanks puttmad, so you have pretty good results with this method?

I use a lot more than I can state here, but its been on the SAM Puttlab and my results were as good as the top 50% of tour pros (comment by Puttlab exec.) and that was after a 10- week layoff....

 

[Brian Manzella]

What???

1 inch per foot???

What about your vertical jump needs to be 1-inch for every 2 feet of jump shot, while your elbow folds 1° for every three feet.

My brain hurts.

I teach and use a swinging motion to putt. I isn't the only way, but it is the best way in my opinion.

I will include all of my ideas in depth in my Manzella Putting Matrix video, but here is a couple of nuggets.

1. Never speed up or slow down the putter for distance control. Make a backswing that allows you to swing the putter and make the ball go the right distance.

2. NEVER bounce back.